EDITORIAL: Combining parks and recreation under one department is a good move
By:
We were happy to hear the Township Committee move to unite the parks and recreation departments, marrying two municipal functions that belong together.
Most communities have a similar arrangement because it allows the same department to coordinate work on parks and fields with an eye towards programs that will use those same parks and fields.
Hillsborough has numerous fine parks, and the recreation programs offered are nothing short of phenomenal the thousands of children in soccer and basketball programs and the hundreds of adults in township recreation programs are testimony to the vital importance of the work done by the personnel.
When we first heard of the plan to combine, we were concerned the Township Committee might try to shave a position from the recreation department.
But it appears the plan does not include eliminating any positions, and in fact, adds some support staff for new supervisor-to-be Fred Tenore.
Few operations in the township can extend the quality of life we enjoy as much as the functions of the recreation and parks department. A stronger combination should lead to better and more programs for residents to enjoy.
What the township has brought together let no one put asunder as the committee is doing with the combined engineering and public works departments.
That unhappy couple is divorcing after a late-1990s marriage following the retirement of long-time Public Works Department Director Chris Villano.
At the time, municipal officials hoped to realize some savings by having Township Engineer Frank Scarantino oversee public works supervised by Buck Sixt.
Officials also believed the marriage made sense because of the overlap between functions in much the same way the parks and rec departments go together that many tasks undertaken by the PWD, such as street repairs and maintenance or sidewalk construction, can be designed by the engineering department.
The plan worked as long as Mr. Scarantino was present, but since his departure and the township’s inability to find and name a replacement the departments have operated independently.
Mr. Sixt and Assistant Township Engineer Tom Belenger have ably run their departments, living lives separately like an estranged couple, making the divorce perhaps inevitable.
When it comes to municipal marriages, as in domestic unions, it’s hard to know which will survive the tests of time and which won’t.
But let’s hope the park and recreation marriage is a fruitful union that grows stronger in the coming years.